Delhi HC seeks presence of filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri in contempt case for remarks against judge
New Delhi, Mar 16: The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri to be present before it on April 10 in connection with a criminal contempt case related to his alleged remarks against a judge of the high court.
A bench headed by Justice Siddharth Mridul, which had earlier asked Agnihotri to appear before it on Thursday after he tendered an unconditional apology, exempted him from appearance after his counsel informed the court he was unwell.
In 2018, Agnihotri had allegedly put out tweets alleging bias against Justice S Muralidhar, who was then a sitting judge of the Delhi High Court and is currently the Chief Justice of the Orissa High Court, as he had released human rights activist Gautam Navlakha from house arrest in the Bhima Koregaon violence case.
Pursuant to the tweets, contempt of court proceedings were initiated against Agnihotri and others by the high court.
During the hearing, the bench, also comprising Justice Talwant Singh, remarked it was not "asking" the filmmaker to remain present on the next date of hearing but it has "directed" him to do so.
Tell him to remain present, the court told his lawyer.
On December 6 last year, the court had asked him to "show remorse in person" after he tendered an unconditional apology in the case through an affidavit.
"We are asking him (Agnihotri) to remain present because he is the alleged contemnor. Does he have any difficulty to appear before this court? He has to be present and show remorse in person," the court had said.
The lawyer appearing for another alleged contemnor Anand Ranganathan on Thursday said he will participate in the contempt proceedings.
Amicus curiae senior advocate Arvind Nigam said Ranganathan has made a tweet in relation to the contempt proceedings that he will go down fighting.
"This is not a civil war. I would go down fighting, I will go down with the ship. What is all of this? All we are asking is for you to appear and whatever response is available to you, please let us know," the bench remarked.
The court had initiated on its own the contempt proceedings in the present case after receiving a letter from senior advocate Rajshekhar Rao.
The contempt proceedings were also initiated against Swaminathan Gurumurthy, the editor of the Chennai-based weekly 'Thuglak' magazine, for his tweets against the judge.
Proceedings against Gurumurthy were subsequently closed in October 2019.
Rao, in his letter, had stated that the tweet was a deliberate attempt to attack a sitting high court judge.
Earlier, the high court had directed two social media platforms to block the web links of an offending article levelling scandalous allegations against the judge.
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Allahabad HC orders probe into 'reinstatement' of teacher in UP's Barabanki
Lucknow (PTI): The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on Friday ordered a probe by the special task force (STF) into alleged irregularities in the rejoining of a teacher at City Intermediate College in Barabanki, observing that the reinstatement appeared to be prima facie illegal.
The court also directed the recovery of the salary paid to the teacher during the disputed period.
A bench of Justice Rajeev Singh passed the order on a petition filed by the college management committee. The court expressed doubts over the roles of the District Inspector of Schools (DIOS), Barabanki, the college principal and the teacher concerned and hence, directed a detailed inquiry into the matter.
Taking note of alleged manipulation of records and misleading submissions, the court ordered the immediate transfer of the Barabanki DIOS to ensure a fair probe. It also directed the initiation of disciplinary proceedings against the then joint director of education of the Ayodhya division.
In its order, the court found that the teacher, Abhay Kumar, was initially appointed as an assistant teacher in 2018 but joined an Eklavya Model Residential School in Chhattisgarh as a lecturer in June 2024 without obtaining permission from the management. His subsequent request to retain the lien was rejected.
Despite this, he was allowed to rejoin the Barabanki College in September 2025 on the directions of the joint director of education and the DIOS, and was even paid the salary for October 2025. The court termed the rejoining "wholly illegal" and lacking any legal basis.
The bench also expressed concern over lapses in communication within the education department and directed the Uttar Pradesh chief secretary to ensure that official orders are communicated through email and WhatsApp as well, to prevent disputes.
The matter is next listed for hearing on May 28 when a compliance report is sought.
